1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a structure for connecting a first computer interface to a second computer interface. More particularly, the invention relates to such a structure where the first computer interface is a PCMCIA socket and the second interface is a SCSI interface.
2. Related Art
Typically, a computer is interconnected by an adapter to peripheral devices, such as printers, CD-ROMs, hard disks and scanners. Interconnection between a computer and a peripheral device (or between peripheral devices) is frequently done with a cable that is configured, at each end of the cable, to be compatible with an interface of the computer or one of the peripheral devices, as appropriate.
Some computers include a slot (interface) for accepting a card that conforms to the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) standard. PCMCIA is a widely accepted industry standard for small form factor add-in card applications which are especially popular among users of notebook and sub-notebook computers. A PCMCIA card includes electronic devices, such as printed circuit boards and/or integrated circuit chips, on which circuitry is formed for performing logical functions and/or for storing data. PCMCIA cards generally fall into two categories: 1) memory add-in products including solid state and rotating media, and 2) I/O add-in products such as fax-modems, network adapters, and SCSI adapters.
Many computer peripheral devices utilize an interface bus standard known as Small Computer Standard Interface (SCSI). For example, most CD-ROMs, many high performance/high capacity hard disks and tape drives, scanners, high-speed laser printers and digital cameras implement the SCSI standard.
Without more, a computer equipped with a PCMCIA card slot (and without a SCSI interface) must use PCMCIA-compatible peripheral devices. However, in some cases, the desired device may not exist in a PCMCIA format, or such a device may be redundant with a SCSI peripheral device. In such situations, it desirable to use an adapter that is configured to translate electrical signals between the PCMCIA interface and the SCSI interface. However, such an adapter can be awkward to use with a device equipped with a PCMCIA slot.